As I was preparing for this reflection, I was delighted to see that the Feast of the Visitation would be celebrated on the Saturday of this week, according to the liturgical calendar. This well-known text from Luke 1:39–56 is often pondered during Advent as part of the season of waiting and preparation, but here we are offered the opportunity to reflect singularly on the graced encounter between Mary and Elizabeth.
The description of the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth resounds with hope and joy. Their encounter came at a time when each of their lives had been changed radically. Mary sought out Elizabeth, who received her with open arms. Embracing each other, they shared their stories and listened to one another.
They were both women of faith, who recognised and accepted the influence of God in their own lives and in the life of the other. They were both filled with the Holy Spirit. Within this encounter, there is a sense of resonance between them in the depths of their bodies, hearts and souls.
Together they praised God through Mary’s Magnificat—a prayer echoing the prayer of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1–10)—which combines praise and trust in God, firstly from an individual perspective and secondly within the wider context of promises and hope in God. The words of this prayer continue to resound each day, both individually, in community, and throughout the world within the Liturgy of the Hours.
The Magnificat provides us with a glimpse of Mary, who fully and actively participated in God’s plan—not someone who meekly agreed, but someone, fully human, called to live out her “yes” to God, the first disciple. She is such an example for us to follow.
Mary, overshadowed by the Spirit of God, is the Virgin of the new heart who gave human face to the Word made flesh.
She is the Virgin of wise and contemplative listening, who kept and pondered in her heart the events and words of the Lord.
She is the faithful disciple of wisdom, who sought Jesus—God’s Wisdom—
and allowed herself to be formed and moulded by his ways and choices.
Thus enlightened, Mary is presented to us as one able to read “the great wonders” which God accomplished in her for the salvation of the humble and poor.
(Constitutions 2019: 27)
What strikes me is that, as people of faith like Mary and Elizabeth, there are times when we need to be on our own to open our hearts to God. However, there are also times when we are drawn to seek out and are strengthened by our encounters with others. Therefore, we too may be called to walk alongside another, to provide companionship, to journey with one another. In this year, as pilgrims of hope, we are called to reflect on our own individual journeys and particularly how we journey together.
John of the Cross writes,
“God leads each one along different paths so that hardly one spirit will be found like another in even half its method of procedure.”
(Living Flame, Stanza III, 59)
For three months Mary and Elizabeth were in community with each other. Although we have not been handed down details about this time, I would like to think that they grew into their own rhythm of life, based around prayer, shared meals, activities, and of course, many conversations. Living together, they shared their lives and experiences and would have grown in knowledge, understanding and acceptance of the new paths they were being called to.
Within the Carmelite tradition, there are many different models of community. There appears to be a stability in community but also a dynamic fluidity. People are invited and welcomed in to share in part of community life, or perhaps for a retreat or day of reflection, during which they are able to participate and fulfil a desire to be part of a community of faith. The space provided enables them to embrace some time away from the pressures of daily life, supporting the development of greater awareness and attentiveness to God working in their lives. Like Mary and Elizabeth, they have the opportunity to experience walking alongside each other, often only for a short period of time.
The passage concludes:
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.
A return, a renewal, maybe a transformation.
Through their encounter with each other in the Visitation, Mary and Elizabeth illustrate a way of life for us that is mutually supportive and responsive, based on contemplation and enlightenment in community, which in turn leads into action: a Carmelite way.
Like a flame my hope is burning,
may my song arise to you:
Source of life that has no ending,
on life’s path I trust in you.
(Chorus of the hymn written for this Jubilee Year of Hope)
Angela Black
